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The vela Surname

vela Name Meaning and History

  1. Spanish, Catalan and Galician: of uncertain derivation; it could be from the pre-Roman personal name Vela (compare Basque bela, vela ‘raven’). More likely perhaps, it may be a byname from vela meaning either ‘sail’ or ‘watchman’.
  2. Spanish: habitational name from a place name Vela, in Córdoba province.
  3. Portuguese: habitational name from a place named Vela in Portugal.
  4. Czech: from a pet form of either of two personal names, Velislav or Velimir.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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vela Family Facts

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Distribution of vela Families in the US in 1920
Number of vela families
 131-259
 44-130
 1-43
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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The vela name in History

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